NASA plans to launch the Space Launch System to its launch pad on March 17 for tests that will include core-stage refueling and going through an exercise countdown. Image: NASA/Frank Michaux ANSWER — NASA is scheduled to launch its Space Launch System (SLS) rocket for the first time in mid-March. The launch is in rehearsal … Read more
Hot Jupiter is much bigger and hotter than our Jupiter. Image: Dotted Yeti/Shutterstock SPACE — Imagine a world where clouds of metal, molten rubies and sapphires are slowly descending from the sky. Such a world was discovered in a recent astronomy study. In research published in the journal Nature Astronomy, Monday, February 21, 2022, the … Read more
Illustration of a human brain. SPACE — The human brain changes with age and growth. But what happens to the human brain after a long time in space? In a new study by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, researchers explain how cosmonaut brains change after traveling into space. They … Read more
The illustration shows the first identified interstellar visitor, Oumuamua, discovered in 2017. The diverging object swings within 24 million miles of the Sun before streaking out of the solar system. Oumuamua still defies any simple categorization. It does not behave like a comet, and has a variety of unusual characteristics. Because the rotation of a … Read more
Illustration of NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Space Telescope, which experienced a camera error on February 9, 2022. Image: NASA SPACE — There’s nothing a telescope can do after its camera breaks. However, the incident this time did not happen to ordinary telescopes. It is the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, a NASA spacecraft that has been on missions … Read more
IXPE’s first science image shows supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. Image: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE SPACE — NASA’s X-ray hunters have taken their first spectacular-looking science image. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) was launched on December 9, 2021 on a mission to observe objects such as black holes and neutron stars in X-ray light. The IXPE hunt is … Read more
Snow Moon arrives Wednesday, February 16 at 11:57 a.m. EST. Image: Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu Agency/Getty ANTRACTORY — The full moon will be in the sky on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, night. February’s full moon, dubbed the Snow Moon, will arrive starting at 11:57 Eastern Time, or before 12 pm in western Indonesia. On the same day, … Read more